It is nice to take videos of yourself while doing sports or some other activities. Friends are not always around to handle the camera. Selfie stick takes out one hand out of action, which is not acceptable in some sports like skiing, biking, etc. Most of these sports require a helmet, so a selfie poles can be mounted on the helmet. There are products on the market that try to address this problem.
“Rhino GoPro Accessories: 360 Swivel & Poles for GoPro Camera” (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rhinocg/rhino-gopro-accessories-360-swivel-and-poles-for-g?ref=discovery) In this solution horizontal poles have the only one flexibility dimension—rotation around vertical axis. Such lack of flexibility makes using the rig uncomfortable, due to the momentum created by the long poles and cameras when they are moved with the tilt of the head. A better picture/video can be produced when camera is stabilized and doesn't move too much even when the head moves.
“CAMERA MOUNT FOR SELF-VIDEO RECORDING” (US Patent Application 20160195798 A1) This solution uses a ball joint, which provides too much flexibility and results in a shaky video (in the lateral direction). Camera stabilization is not addressed in any simple and efficient way. Backpack-like harness is required. That and additional weight is excessive for sports where agility is required. Added dimensions prevent from using a chairlift.
Current invention addresses shortcomings of the existing solutions and provides following advantages:
Lightweight, shouldn't obstruct head movement;
Self-stabilized, self-leveled;
Flexible/modular, allow use of wide range of equipment like selfie sticks;
Waterproof;
Easy to use and transport (foldable); Can be kept on a helmet when not in use;
Affordable; small number of inexpensive parts;
Standard mounts; can be mounted on helmet, backpack vertical pole, etc.
For the rig not to obstruct head movements and camera stabilization (camera position is independent of the user movement) as many as possible flexibility dimensions should be supported. At the same time too much flexibility can result in a shaky video. Tests with a ball joint, which allows flexibility in 3 dimensions, resulted in camera shaking in lateral direction. When camera poles are mounted in a straight line the rig is unstable and cameras are moving up and down especially with the extreme sports.
For the best results lateral flexibility should be excluded, so the camera poles have 2 dimensions of the flexibility—rotation around vertical axis (swivel) and pivoting up and down, but not sideways.
Self-leveling, self-stabilization is achieved by moving rig center of gravity lower than the pivot axis (suspension point). This is done by pointing camera poles down (so the angle between poles measured from the side of the ground is less than 180 degrees).
Friction in pivot and swivel is controlled (additional friction can be applied) to reduce jitter, oscillation and other unwanted movements.